Being an actress and a former costumer, I
love the costume element of Halloween.
Catwoman is one of my all-time favorites.
Halloween is also a time when we give
ourselves permission to be out of the box,
to be less buttoned up, to play or pretend
to be somebody else. All of that is very
healthy and fun.

Your latest books came out just in
time for Halloween. That wasn’t a
coincidence, was it?

I timed it specifically that way. My
“Supernatural Survival Guide” is a great
intro book for anyone who may be curious
about the supernatural and paranormal. It
goes over various supernatural creatures,
how to recognize them and how to know
they’re around, along with tips and tricks
for dealing with them if you happen to
cross their paths. I do believe that demons,
ghosts, vampires and werewolves are real,
and I share stories that I’ve had with some
of those beings in the book.

There are a lot of [otherworldly]
creatures that just blend into society; they
may look human, but that doesn’t mean
they are.

When did you realize you were a
psychic and an empath?

Ever since I was little, I have seen andsensed ghosts and other non-physicalbeings, but I could tell that other peopleweren’t seeing what I was seeing. It tookmany years for me to come to terms withit, to learn how to manage what I wasexperiencing, and to not be afraid.

I ended up in a very bad place; I was
just overwhelmed with everything. After
many years, I finally went through the
process of psychically opening back up.

I had an incredible angelic experience,
started taking psychic development classes,
and then my world totally transformed.

Most of us think of Halloween as a
cultural phenomenon without a real
connection to the supernatural, but
do you think there is one and, if so,
what is it?

There really is a connection between the
physical and the energetic or spiritual
realms. Whenever there are multiple cultures
all over the world that have similar holidays
or celebrations at the same time of year,
there’s something to that. In Christianity,
there are All Saints Day and All Souls Day;
in Mexico, there’s Dia de los Muertos (Day
of the Dead), and in the Celtic tradition,
there’s Samhain. At the end of October, the
beginning of November is when the veil
between the worlds is the thinnest.

What does that mean, the veil between
the worlds is the thinnest?

It is the time of year in the physical world
when it is dark and there’s a lot of death.

The days are shorter and the nights longer,

the harvest is over, the trees are bare and
many plants have died or seem to have
died. In astrology, it is the time of Scorpio,
which, simplistically speaking, is all about
revealing the hidden or showing what’s
normally not visible. And, it’s telling, I
think, that darker thoughts, malevolent
spirits, ghosts, hauntings and the
paranormal are on people’s minds.

What do you do as a paranormal
investigator?

There is actually a set discipline. We are trying
to use physical tools to receive indicators
and find evidence of paranormal activity in
various places. The tools we use include EMF
(electromagnetic frequency) detectors or
readers, infrared cameras, motion detectors
and video/audio recording. We also use those
twist on/twist off flashlights. If you set set one
on the edge between on and off, a spirit can
manipulate it.

Finally, getting back to Halloween,
how do you typically celebrate it?
Actually, it’s a very busy time for me in
my work. I usually have a lot of media
interviews and appearances, and it’s a
busy time for paranormal investigations
because, as I said earlier, people have the
supernatural on their minds at this time of
year. But I love to go to Halloween parties,
especially costume parties. In Los Angeles,
some of these parties can be amazing. It’s
literally like being in a horror movie. ■

LAURA POWERS

50 ■ January 2017 ■ Selling Halloween
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LAURA POWERS,FOUNDER AND PRESIDENTOF HEALING POWERS,works as a psychicmedium, intuitive reader,paranormal investigator,author, speaker, actressand singer. She is aHalloween enthusiast whotimed the debut of hertwo most recent books,“Diary of a Psychic” and “Supernatural Survival Guide,” justdays before Halloween 2016. She has also written “Diaryof a Ghost Whisperer,” “Angels and Manifesting: A Guideto Changing Your Life in Magical Ways” and “Life and theAfter-Life: Notes from a Medium and Angel Communicator.”Laura has been featured in BuzzFeed, NBC’s 9News inDenver and Vice Media’s Motherboard.

Known as one of Los Angeles’ top psychics, Laura has
lived, worked, and studied in London, Prague, Barcelona,
Cairo, Turkey, Shanghai and Hawaii. She enjoys meeting
people from all over the world to learn about their cultures
and views, and her desire to explore different perspectives
has been a driving force behind her business Healing Powers,
a company dedicated to sharing information and resources
on healing and metaphysical topics. Among her many leisure
pursuits, which include adventure travel and writing, Laura
enjoys attending events like Comic-Con and Nerd-Con.